LANCASTER, PA -- Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthony's) scored four goals and handed out one assist, while Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) scored a goal and dished out four assists as the #10 ranked Franklin & Marshall College men's lacrosse team dominated Ursinus 10-3 in both team's Centennial Conference season opener.
F&M (6-1, 1-0 Centennial Conference), which entered the game with a 49-3 scoring advantage in the series following a 28-0 win in 2001 and a 21-3 victory in 2003, staked the Bears (4-2, 0-1 CC) to a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game as Carlo Fusco scored twice and James Lawson tallied a solo score.
Lawson scored first in the game as he fired a shot through traffic for an unassisted goal at 1:24 into the game. Following a non-releasable penalty to F&M's Matt Capone (Jr., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale), the Bears' Fusco cashed in twice as he blasted shots at 12:55 and 12:29 through traffic for scores.
Trailing 3-0, Wathey took over the remainder of the quarter finding midfielder Kevin Kohl (Fr., Manasquan, NJ/Loomis Chaffee) for a score with 5:51 left in the period for a 3-1 game after 15 minutes of play.
The Diplomats began to chip away at the lead in the second period as Colin Hanley (Jr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) found the back of the net off a Welsh assist with 11:07 until halftime for a 3-2 Ursinus lead at intermission.
Overall, the Diplomats' dominated play in the first half outshooting the Bears 19-11 and holding Ursinus to only three minutes in Franklin & Marshall's end of the field.
Following halftime, F&M put the game away in the third period scoring five goals.
Wathey began the onslaught with 7:57 to go in the period as Cyrus Adams (Fr., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) found the senior attackman for a score to tie the score at 3-3. Welsh netted the game-winner at the five-minute mark with an unassisted score before Wathey scored an unassisted tally at 4:14 for a 5-3 lead.
Matt Mondonedo (Fr., Silver Spring, MD/Blake) finished an assist from JB Robichau (Jr., Edgartown, MA/Tabor) with 3:02 left in the period and Wathey buried an assist from Welsh with 54 seconds remaining as the Diplomats carried a 7-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Robichau tallied a goal off an assist from Welsh at the 10:50 mark, Adams flicked home an assist from Vandy Vanderwarker (Sr., Keswick, VA/STAB) at 9:09, while Wathey ripped a shot past Ursinus goalie Matt Orlando off an assist from Welsh for the final marker as the Diplomats rolled to the seven goal win.
Statistically, Franklin & Marshall dominated the game on both ends of the field outshooting Ursinus 51-15 as the Diplomats held the Bears to 70 seconds in the offensive end in the second half, including a season low four seconds in the fourth quarter.
In goal, Mike Sartorius (Jr., Summit, NJ/Summit) recorded 10 saves on 15 Ursinus shots, while Orlando stopped 15 of the Diplomats' 51 shots.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on April 3 on the road at Haverford College. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m.
Period 1-2-3-4 -- Total
Ursinus (4-2, 0-1 CC) 3-0-0-0 -- 3
Franklin & Marshall (6-1, 1-0 CC) 1-1-5-3 -- 10
Goals:
F&M - Chris Wathey (4), Kevin Kohl (1), Steve Welsh (1), Cyrus Adams (1), Matt Mondonedo (1), JB Robichau (1), Colin Hanley (1)
Ursinus - Carlo Fusco (2), James Lawson (1)
Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh (4), Chris Wathey (1), Cyrus Adams (1), JB Robichau (1), Vandy Vanderwarker (1)
Ursinus - Nick Shriver (1)
Goalies (Saves/Goals/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (10/3/60)
Ursinus - Matt Orlando (15/10/60)
Ground Balls: F&M 41, Ursinus 16
Shots: F&M 51, Ursinus 15
Extra Man: F&M 2 for 4, Ursinus 2 for 4
Faceoffs: F&M 13 for 16, Ursinus 3 for 16
Attendance: 390
